Essential Tremor Workshop to be held on Dec. 10

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center will host a free seminar, “Learning about Essential Tremor: Diagnosis and Treatment Options” on Dec. 10 from 9:00 a.m. until noon in Babcock Auditorium, on the campus of Wake Forest Baptist.

Guest speakers for the event include: Allison Brashear, M.D., chairman of the department of neurology and Stephen Tatter, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurosurgery. Catherine Rice, executive director of the International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF), will facilitate the event and introduce the speakers.

The event is open to the general public, patients, friends, family members, and health care providers.

Essential tremor is an involuntary trembling in part of the body. It affects about 10 million Americans and is the most common and most often misdiagnosed movement disorder. About 30 percent of people with essential tremor have a family member with the symptoms. Movement disorders are the broad category of neurologic diseases that include Parkinson's Disease, essential tremor, other types of tremor.

Wake Forest Baptist was one of the first medical centers in the nation to use the Deep Brain Stimulator for the treatment of movement disorders. In January 2002, the device was approved for implantation in areas of the brain to relieve motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including rigidity, slowness of movement and a "freezing" of basic motor skills. Wake Forest Baptist is one of the 20 most experienced centers in the country using this technology. In addition, Medical Center specialists have expertise in botulinum toxin injections to treat symptoms associated with movement disorders.

The cost to register for the event is $5, which will be refunded to participants at the door. For more information about the event or to register, call 1-888-387-3667 or register on-line at www.essentialtremor.org. Registration deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.

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